Chapter Text
Life was never easy for Severus Snape.
Born to a muggle father and a pureblood mother, Severus was born a half-blood wizard.
Truthfully, his father, Tobias, never liked him. He never wanted a child. But much to his dismay, the boy was born, and he hated his wife for it.
On the other hand, Eileen Prince, Severus’ mother, loved the child so much that she told her what he was at such an early age. She taught him useful charms, gave him books that were in possession of the Prince's manor, and even accompanied him when he first got his wand.
Being the loving mother she was, her husband was no exception to all the love that she could offer. She loved him so much, even if he didn’t treat her right. She loved him even if she would start another day with purple spots covering all over her body. She loved him even if he didn’t love their own child.
It was toxic, yes, but love is toxic.
That’s why the raven-haired boy swore not to build his love around toxicity. In the future, once he finds the love of his life, he will only love her, whoever she is, whatever she is.
But growing up in a small and poor neighborhood, growing up with an abusive father, Severus never knew what love was. Well, of course, he knew what motherly love felt like, but he never knew the bond that connected two people in ways that words can’t explain. He never knew it because it was missing in his parent’s relationship. It was one-sided, not completely full.
That was until he met her.
The raven-haired boy was currently seated at the library in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 5 years ago, he received his acceptance letter. He would have been surprised if it hadn’t been for his mother to inform him what he was before that. But a year before that event, he met a girl with auburn hair.
Lily.
She was like him, but she didn’t know what she was. And so he passed his knowledge to her, and they became friends. However, the moment they entered the Great Hall, they were sorted into their respective houses, eventually separating them. Lily Evans was sorted into Gryffindor while Severus in Slytherin.
Life didn’t get better for Severus after he left home. He thought that he was free from his abusive father, but he thought wrong. No one really liked him because of his friendship with Lily, his house, and his blood status. He never really had constant friend,s and he often got bullied because of that.
Shallow, yes, but some people just got mad at the wrong things.
“Hello.” A voice greeted Severus, interrupting his train of thought as he did his homework for charms. Without lifting his head, the boy pierced his cold eyes to the stranger.
It was a girl from his house, seeing that she was wearing the same green and silver colors that he wore.
He didn’t bother to answer the girl’s greeting verbally. He merely raised a brow in anticipation, waiting for what the girl wanted from him.
Despite his lack of words, the smile on the girl’s face didn’t falter. “Hello, my name is Y/N.” The girl quipped.
Severus knew who she was. She was Y/N Valentine, the Slytherin sweetheart. In his year, or maybe in Slytherin overall, she was the nicest. But she wasn’t too nice to befriend other people outside their house. Though, a lot of people wanted to be her friend. A lot even wanted to date her, that is, if they weren’t already betrothed to some other pureblood.
Y/N Valentine had distinct features that only she could model. But she wasn’t really Severus’ type. His heart was set on the ginger Gryffindor after all.
“If I am not mistaken, your name is Severus. Correct?” She continued. Severus only nodded in response.
“Do you perhaps...mind if I sit here? The library is packed and there’s no other vacant table left.”
The boy shook his head. “Feel free to do so.” He breathed. It was the first words he ever said to the girl, and the girl felt relieved to hear the boy’s voice.
She knew who he was. He was Severus Snape, the boy people called peculiar. But she didn’t care. None of those trivial things mattered to her.
For a moment there, she thought that Severus was going to push her away. She was glad he didn’t. She wouldn’t want to go and find a different table. The library was packed with Gryffindors. It’s not like she had a prejudice against the house of Godric, it’s just that she didn’t want to deal with questions and interrogations coming from her own house.
That was the first time Severus Snape and Y/N Valentine met. You could say their relationship started there, yes, but it didn’t end there either. Truthfully, Severus wouldn’t have minded if nothing bloomed in that simple interaction. It’s not like a housemate of his didn’t ask the same favor, but that was really a rare occasion. Slytherins mostly study together in the dungeons. But even if someone asked to sit with him in the library, it was always the same; They wouldn't utter another word more and act as if the boy was invisible.
However, this time, it was different. Severus just didn’t know it yet.
After that event, Y/N Valentine became intrigued by the quiet and mysterious Slytherin. As they were studying that afternoon, the girl couldn’t help but take a quick peep on what the boy was doing. He was scribbling in his textbook.
Y/N thought that was just the way he preferred to take notes instead of wasting a good amount of parchment roll. However, her eyes landed on a crossed out procedure that had the contents to slice an ingredient she really couldn’t decipher. Instead of ‘slice’, Severus changed it to ‘crush’.
Was he making up his own procedure? How does he know if that’s gonna work?
The girl was curious about the boy seated in front of him and she needed to satisfy that curiosity.
She heard a lot about him, but not in the way people talked about Lucius Malfoy or James Potter or the good-looking Black brothers. Severus wasn’t popular, no. He was the boy who hid his face behind his long jet-black hair, the boy whose nose was buried in a worn-out Advance Potions textbook, the boy who had a dark aura around him. Okay, he might not be popular but people do know him. Except, all the words that were used to describe Severus Snape depicted his exterior. Y/N Valentine wanted to know his interior.
But after a lot of thinking, the girl assumed why the boy was quiet and reserved. James Potter and his lot often messed with him, calling him names and sending hexes towards his way. Honestly, the girl didn’t know the reason why the obnoxious Gryffindors bully the quiet Slytherin. It’s not like he’s doing anything wrong.
Being the Slytherin sweetheart that she is, she couldn’t just watch the group of Gryffindors harassing her housemate. She just had to do something about it.
Hidden behind a wall, the girl flicked her wand to point at the haughty Gryffindor, murmuring the incantation of the hex that would disable you to move, coating your body with thick ice.
After seeing the work that she did, she couldn’t help the smirk that took place on her lips even when she grabbed her book and pretended to read.
Severus didn’t know if it was his mind playing tricks or if it was a side effect he got from the marauders’ hexing but he knew he wasn’t the one who casted the freezing spell towards James Potter. The magic came from the side anyways.
If it weren’t for another Slytherin calling her name, Severus wouldn’t have any clue on who could have helped him.
End of Chapter 1